I really doubt pet stores underfeed little pups to cause them to become smaller. This wouldn't work - you'd soon have a lot of seriously ill little pups that no one would want --- or worse yet - I'm sure a lot of them would die if they weren't fed enough.
The puppies I see at pet stores usually are healthy, robust, little guys that definitely want to go home with you. They are hard to turn down. And, of course, there are also some that are more fearful and shy - but they are little darlings too.
Every little puppy in a pet store deserves a good home - regardless of where they came from.
I hate and am against puppymills as much as anyone. And, I know that a lot of people think that buying these puppies is what keeps the puppymills in business. This is a sad state of affairs because as I said these little pups need homes too.
I think that not buying puppies at pet stores will be the slowest way in the world to close down puppymills. And, I know a lot of people will continue to buy these pups just because they are available -- and ooooooooh so darling when you go and see them. Plus - in all honesty - I know a lot of people who got their pups from pet stores and have ended up with the greatest pets in the world. It certainly doesn't always turn out bad for the people who buy them.
So --- rather than trying to keep people from buying these puppies -- I think the way to close the puppy mills is to have more laws, regulations, and better standards regarding any facility that raises large numbers of puppies to sell. No facility that raises large numbers of puppies solely to make money and abuses any of their animals during this process should be allowed to operate on these grounds alone.
Puppymill facilities should be shut down where they exist. I can't understand how so many of them continue to exist and continue to abuse so many innocent animals.
My fight with puppymills is not at the pet stores - I am certainly not against anyone buying any of these little pups and taking them home to a good home. They need homes.
My fight is with the facilities that abuse animals to make these little puppies available for sale. And - I think our efforts should be spent on instituting more laws and regulations regarding these facilities. There should be agencies that can visit any of these facilities at any time - and shut them down immediately if they are abusing any animals. Why does everyone drag their feet when it comes to closing these places down????
I have read about facilities that are known abusive puppymills and have read that sometimes it takes years to close them down. Why? I don't understand this.
If it's money that keeps our state and county agencies from being able to monitor these places, I am sure that a skeleton crew could be paid and that a lot of other people would be willing to become more educated and learn more about these facilities and would be willing to volunteer their time and work for free to help close many of these facilities.
I have no clue what it would take to get this problem solved and these places closed down. Perhaps thousands of letters to congressmen and petitions would help. But, I don't think that expecting people to stop purchasing puppies at pet stores is the answer. This would take forever and what would happen to these puppies if no one bought them? I think we need to attack the source of the problem - the puppymills, themselves. And, again, I just can't understand why they are allowed to operate --- they should all be closed "yesterday."
Carol Jean |